THAILAND REGISTERS INTL ARRIVAL RECORD AMID MEDICAL TOURISM BOOM

Last year was a record year for medical tourism in Thailand. 35.38 million foreign tourists arrived in the country. All in all, they spent about 1.8 trillion baht. This year, however, things should be even better, with the government expecting to exceed the 37 million visitor mark.

This is perfectly in line with medical tourism inflow recorded in the first four months of the year: 13.7 million foreign tourists, an increase of 13.9% compared to 2017.

But that’s not all. The source markets of Thailand have also seen a change. From January to April 2018, the country has registered an increase of 30% of tourists from China. As a result, the Chinese have firmly become the primary source market.

Among other markets growing at a rapid pace there is also India (+17%). Overall, however, Malaysia sit in second place, followed by Laos, Russia, India, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, the USA and UK. More generally, all markets have been contributing to the increase in attendance at the beginning of 2018, with the exception of the Middle East.

East Asia and South Asia registered double-digit increases of 17.5% and 15.18%, respectively. Europe had a rise of 9.75%, while the Americas 3.55% and Africa 7.11%.

Lastly, on the currency revenue front, the Minister of Tourism and Sport announced that the first quarter of the year ended with an increase of 17.55% compared to last year. This has been achieved also thanks to the exponential growth of the medical tourism in Thailand. This has been possible also because of the extremely high standard of clinical facilities in Bangkok.